Butter conditioner



'May 8, `1945 A. F. wlLD BUTTER GONDITIONER Fill-ed sept. s, 1942 Inventor. Albert F Wild, by wetdww His Attorney.

Patented May 8, 1.945

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE BUTTER CONDITIONER Albert F. Wild, Scotia, N. Y., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York V Application September 3, 1942, Serial No. 457,221

1 Claim.

For a better understanding of my invention,l

reference may be had to the drawing in which Fig. l is a partial view of a refrigerator cabinet equipped with a butter conditioner or the like embodying the principles of my invention, and Figs. 2, 3, and 4 are enlarged sectional views of butter conditioners illustrating various embodiments of my invention, taken along the line 2--2 of Fig. l.

In the drawing, there is illustrated a refrigerator cabinet II) of the domestic type having a food-storage compartment'll dened by suitable thermally insulated walls and a thermally insulated closure member I2. The Walls of the cabinet'may include an-inner liner I3 and an outer casing I4, the space therebetween being filled with suitable thermal insulating material I5. In order to cool the food-storage compartment I I, there is provided a refrigerant evaporator I6 suitably disposed Within the compartment II. Inasmuch as the details of the refrlgerating system form no part of my present invention, it is believed unnecessary to illustrate the complete system. Any desired apparatus may -be employed for conducting gaseous refrigerant to the evaporator or cooling element I6.. Suitable control means, as indicated form of my invention, there is provided a recess I9 in the insulating material I5 into which the receptacle extends. It will be obvious that the rate of heat exchange through the thin layer of insulation next to the receptacle will be greater than that through the main body of insulation I5. In order to supplement the heat leakage through the cabinet wall, I have provided electric heating means. ,One wall of the receptacle I8 is provided with an opening 20 and a closure member 2I suitably hinged as indicated by the nu.- meral 22 and provided with a handle member 23 for closing and opening the exposed side of the conditioner or receptacle I8. Disposition of the receptacle in the insulation space is advantageous because a minimum amount of food-storage space is occupied and a minimum amount of electric power is required to maintain the temperature of the receptacle at the desired value. However,

if desired, the butter conditioner may be disposed in any convenient location within the refrigerated space.

In the embodiment'of my invention shown in Fig. 2, there is shown an inner liner 24 defining the top, bottom, side, and rear walls of the receptacle, the remaining side comprising the door 2l. The inner liner 24 is formed from amaterial having relatively low heat-conductivity characteristics, such as a ceramic material or glass. In order to provide additional insulation for the receptacle, there is provided an outer liner 25 of suitable material maintained in spaced relation ship with respect to the inner liner by spacing means 26 of suitable material. Preferably, the spacing means 26 is made of a material having relatively low heat conductivity in nature and may conveniently be formed integrally with the inner liner 24. As is well understood, the inner and outer liners and spacing means are arranged to provide `a layer of dead air which has relatively good heat-insulating characteristics.. The liners and the spacing means may be assembled in any desired fashion as, for example, by means of a threaded fastening member 21 extending through a. portion of the hinge 28 and suitable openings ,in the spacer 26, marginal flange 29I of the outer liner, and the inner liner I3` into engagement with a suitably located threaded projection 30 on the outer face of the inner liner I3. If desired, suitabley sealing means 3| may be disposed between the spacing means and the flange and also between the ange and the inner liner of the cabinet.

As hitherto explained, an auxiliary source of heat in addition to that leaking through the thinned portion 32 of insulation is provided. In Fig. 2, the heating means takes the form of a coil of relatively high-resistance Wire 33 Wound about the sides,top, and bottom of the inner liner 24 and is distributed over asubstantial portion of the outer surface of the inner liner. The heating coil may be secured in place in any desired fash- Means is provided for completing an electric circuit to the heating coil and the thermostat. This means comprises a terminal block 3l Winch may be 'suitably secured across an opening 38 in the rear wall of the outer liner of the receptacle' and terminals 39 suitably secured to the block and extending into a suitable socket di) carried by the portion lil of the inner liner i3 of the cabinet. The complete electric circuit is not illus-v trated because it Iwill be readily understood that connections to a supply line will be made through the terminalsZ on the block dll in such a way that the heating means and thermostat will be connected in a series circuit with the electric power source.

In Fig. 3, there is illustrated a second embodiment of my invention which is quite similar to the arrangement shown in Fig. 2 except that the inner liner 24', the outer liner 25', and the spacing means 26' of the receptacle I 8 are all formed of a material havingrelatively low heatconductivity characteristics and all 'but two of the walls of the conditioner are incorporated into one piece as by a molding process. A suitable ceramic may be employed and the material should -be of the thermal-set type. A heat-set phenol-aldehyde resin is suitable for the purpose. One of the remaining walls, of course, is provided With an opening through which the food to .be stored maybe inserted and is closed by the door 2|'. The outer liner of the remaining wall which forms a chamber about the inner liner is completed to constitute the chamber a dead air space by means of a back plate 43 of relatively low heatnconductivitymaterial which is made removable to facilitate the assembly and, in case of need, the repair of the heating means.

The embodiment of my invention illustrated in Fig. 4 is similar to that illustrated in Fig. 3 y

for this purpose. An electric heating device 45 is suitably supported adjacent the covering 44 for imparting heat thereto, and, inasmuch as the material comprising the covering 44 conducts heat readily, there will be a relatively uniform distribution of heat over the sides, top. bottom, and rear walls of the receptacle l 8.

The above construction is advantageous in that the inner and outer liners or shells and the spacing means may be incorporated into one piece, thereby rendering assembly of the device and the installation of the receptacle into a refrigerator cabinet a very simple operation. Moreover, materials available for the inner liner pror vide a receptacle having an extremely sanitary and easily cleaned surface, and a very good degree of heat insulation is obtained, especially in the embodiments shown in Figs. 3 and 4 where a chamber of relatively dead air is enclosed :between poor head conducting liners.

.Heat loss to the compartment Il may be minimized by using a door 2| of poor heat conductive material.

While I have shown particular embodiments of my invention, I do not desire my invention to be limited to the particular vembodiments 'shown and described and I intend in the appended claim to cover all modifications within the spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

A food storage receptacle for storing butter and the like in refrigerated compartments at temperatures higher than the average normal temperature of the refrigerated compartment, comprising a one-piece wall structure formed of heat insulating material, said wall structure including 'an inner liner providing storage space open at one side and an outer liner'spaced from said inner liner and forming a chamber about said inner liner and open on its side opposite the opening in said inner liner, a door for enclosing said storage space, a removable cover of insulating material for closing the open side of said outer liner to constitute said chamber a ydead air space between said liners, a covering of heat conducting material arranged about and in good thermal contact with the outer surface of said inner liner, means arranged in said chamber in the space between said liners for heating a portion .of said covering whereby said covering distributes heat overthe surface of said inner liner, and means arranged within said chamber between said liners for controlling said heating means to determine the temperature within said receptacle.

' ALBERT F. WILD. 

